The best thing for me is that this time around I'll actually have a support network! I have made so many mama friends now that being pregnant is such a different experience from the first one where I literally knew nobody with kids (and not many people without them either).

I love having two kids so much! Not only does your heart have more than enough room, but you get to watch your little loves love each other (except when they don't, but mostly they do!). The beginning is the toughest part, but generally I've found it even better than having one. It felt great to be more confident with a newborn the second time around, and since we'd already gotten used to having to put our own needs second nothing felt as jarring.

Yes! Beet & Raygold adore each other and play with each other all day -- Beetroot even reads Raygold bedtime stories now! And I definitely felt like an old pro when I had Raygold -- no struggling with breastfeeding in public or what the best holds were, knowing what to expect (like explosive baby poo -- I learned the hard way with Beetroot to just put a cloth diaper cover over his disposables when we went out), already knowing having a good system to deal with night nursing and night changes, knowing when they're ready for solids, etc.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 6025Location: United States of New England

i just wanted to say im still reading this thread and thinking of all of you guys who are due soon even if i dont post much.i havent figured out how to type well one handed but im thinking of you guys and i read your updates :-)

my one last pregnancy update is i went to the OB on Tuesday for my blood pressure check and my bp was still elevated which i knew it would be as ive been checking it at home.the dr said i was borderline and for now dont need meds and i should just see it come down gradually over the next couple weeks so yay no meds!

I love having two kids so much! Not only does your heart have more than enough room, but you get to watch your little loves love each other (except when they don't, but mostly they do!). The beginning is the toughest part, but generally I've found it even better than having one. It felt great to be more confident with a newborn the second time around, and since we'd already gotten used to having to put our own needs second nothing felt as jarring.

Totally. And I sorta felt like since we were already so used to having everything in our lives adjusted to being kid-friendly it was like, "efficient", to just have another one while Dahlia is still little. The joy that Sierra expresses upon seeing Dahlia multiple times every day is just unbelievable, and Dahlia is sooo solicitous about entertaining Sierra - she always wants to push her on the swings or "play in a band" with her with shakers and drums or hand her toys to play with. (Of course at the same time she gets upset when Sierra grabs for stuff or ruins some structure she is building but she's learning to let it go.)

36 weeks over here! And now at weekly midwife appointments. I'm having a crazy amount of braxton hicks all day. My friend who was due two weeks before me had her baby last week and I think that kicked me into a 'must get everything done' mode.

36 weeks over here! And now at weekly midwife appointments. I'm having a crazy amount of braxton hicks all day. My friend who was due two weeks before me had her baby last week and I think that kicked me into a 'must get everything done' mode.

Wow, you have a ton more appointments than I do. I'm 36weeks, too and have 1 more appointment (the one where they give me the green light to give birth at the birthing centre) before 40w. I guess I have to book another appointment if I don't pop by 40weeks and then at 42 weeks, I think I would have to be induced (I wouldn't be able to pop at the birth centre, at least). I don't want to be induced, but I'm not afraid of making it that long. B was 5 days late and R was 5 days early, so I don't have a track record of going too overdue (I have a friend and both of her kids were 2-3 weeks late, I think).

I think it's pretty standard here to go every week for the last three or four weeks. I need to get induced too if I go past 42 weeks. I can only use the birthing center up to a week past my due date. With Ada I didn't get to use it because she was 12 days past my due date. I can't believe how close we are getting!

I think it's pretty standard here to go every week for the last three or four weeks. I need to get induced too if I go past 42 weeks. I can only use the birthing center up to a week past my due date. With Ada I didn't get to use it because she was 12 days past my due date. I can't believe how close we are getting!

I was going all the time when I was pregnant with Beety, but now it's like they're not bothered. I am going to a different place now than when I was pregnant with Beetroot, so that's partly why (they also see you a lot less here after your first pregnancy). I had to go a bit more with Raygold, but that was because there was the issue of traces of protein in my urine a few times (cervical fluid, I suspect, because once I started wiping and catching mid-stream, my pee's been all clear) and slightly elevated BP (120/70-80 vs my check-in, which I think was was 90/60) -- I still blame my MIL for that. I'm so glad I haven't had that problem this time around (that's partly why I haven't told anyone I'm pregnant).

And the losing of my mucous plug has started. Not that that means this baby is coming anytime soon but stuff is going on! Oh and I found out my friend who had her baby last week had the baby 1.5 hours after getting in a cab to the hospital (which is at least a half hour away). Yikes. My fear is a cab baby.

Jealous!!! Well, Actually, I don't want to have mine until after my appointment on Tuesday, but after that, I wouldn't mind popping a few weeks early! I was kind of like your friend with my last pregnancy -- I had Raygold less than an hour after I'd arrived at the hospital and my contractions weren't even that bad -- they only had me come in (by ambulance -- the midwives say I live too far away for a taxi) because my contractions had been regular and 4 minutes apart for hours and because I live so far away from the birthing centre.

I've been feeling my little one's head really low in my pelvis late at night. It's so low, it's no wonder my hips are killing me!

And refinnej - I know what you mean with the baby fever. Every time I come on this thread or see babypunk I have a desire to be knocked up RIGHT NOW. We are planning on waiting until July to TTC but darn it is taking forever to get here!

The other day, I went to put on the top I wore to the birthing centre when I was pregnant with Raygold and it is too tight! My bump is so friggin' huge!!! I weigh less than I did with Raygold (and Beety), but my bump is WAY bigger (than when I was up the duff with Raygold and I can tell it's going to be bigger than when I was pregnant with Beety, but I'm not sure if it is bigger yet, it is pretty close, though). Maybe because I'm carrying so low; my ribs were huge when I was pregnant with Raygold because I carried so high -- the bras I wore then are too loose (band-wise) for me now.

I love that look cc, where it kinda seems like you've just had this bump attached to the front of you, where you don't look pg from the back but then you turn and...whoa. From the pics sashi posted, she looks to be carrying similarly too.

I love that look cc, where it kinda seems like you've just had this bump attached to the front of you, where you don't look pg from the back but then you turn and...whoa. From the pics sashi posted, she looks to be carrying similarly too.

Hahaha, refinnej, I look pretty big from behind, too! I am pretty sure I look heavily pregnant from all angles.

Oh yes, my belly is sticking straight out. It's ridiculous. I think I need to move on to my husband's t-shirts. I'll have to try to get a picture later.

If I remember correctly, I was losing pieces of my mucous plug for two or three weeks before I had Ada. I was also 1-2 cm dilated for the longest time. So I wouldn't be surprised if I went past my due date again.

My hospital bag is pretty much ready -- I have everything except a going-home outfit for myself packed. I thought my nesting fit mostly ended about a week ago (I ran out of things to clean and my freezer is nearly full), but then today, I made two brown rice and veggie casseroles (one for the freezer one for dinner) topped with punk rock chickpea gravy (which, I swear, I could just eat straight out of the pan, it is so good) and cashews. Cleaned the kitchen surfaces and vacuumed the green room (I had the kids put their stuff away first -- they might as well get used to cleaning, although they are busy un-cleaning the green room as I type) and the foyer while the casserole cooked. AND...the casserole was a huge hit! Everyone had seconds. Reggie was even the first to ask and he usually has a very modest appetite.

I had my 37 week check-up Tuesday and am all-clear to give birth at the birthing centre -- my fundal height is over 90% -- I was 37W+2D and it was 38cm! It's usually about 90% (and then I have small-ish babies), but it's never been this high before. No wonder I feel all huge and waddley! The midwives were giggling because when they tried to take the baby's heartbeat, he would shimmy around and they were 'chasing' him with the doppler stethoscope.

I also got my hair cut (I asked the midwives where to go and they recommended a great place that happened to be very modestly priced), since I probably won't be able to again for ages. My hips were even achier than usual after my "big day out" (I walked a few miles to/from the train station and such with my big bags of groceries and must have hustled more than I realised), so I skipped exercising yesterday and am gagging to exercise today, although I'll have to do it late at night after the kids are in bed. It was nice to go out by myself (my husband watched the kids at home all day) because I almost never get to go out by myself and because this is probably the last time I'll be able to go out by myself until the new baby starts solids and can go a good while without breastfeeding.

Sashi, I hope you're doing well! It's getting to the point where we're going to have to post regularly or else everyone will start asking if we've popped yet. ;D

You are on a roll crabby! My big task was freezing a quadruple batch of chickpea cutlets. And I washed diapers yesterday. Yep, that's it. I need to get a move on things. And I desperately also need a haircut. And new eyeglasses. My 37 week check up was this week too and the fundal height was also 38 cm. Big bellies! Walking everywhere is getting hard and the braxton hicks are getting ridiculous. Every night I am sure I am going into labor, then they stop eventually. Ha.